An addition to the family
by ChernoMan
Summary: After all that's happened in Beach City, Pearl worries that Steven might not be needing them any longer when he finally gets older. Until one day, when Pearl finds another person whom she could take care of just like she did to Steven, another child. (T for possible light profanities)
1. Chapter 1

A nice day at the beach house... Or so it seems.

Doing the chores around the house had always been Pearl's favorite things to do to pass the time. All the recent things happening around Beach City hadn't been so bad, all the traumatic events had been coped with and everyone had moved along. Living, teaching and guiding Steven through all of these were easy as he was the one who had been able to move on first.

But day by day, she begins to wonder if she, they, would be no more use to him when he finally grows up to become the person they all want him to be. This question has been haunting her ever since the homeworld gems arrived, and with each privacy she gets, she will break down against her will to hold back the tears. What if Steven forgets them? What if he forgets her? All that they've done for him, all they've been through together, and all that's happened. She tried every way to contain her sadness, by saying to herself that the chances of that happening are likely but not possible, asking Garnet if that would ever happen and receiving the same comforting answer over and over again.

But today is different, an oddity that would soon be clear to everyone in the family. Steven and Amethyst left the house and headed in town while Garnet continued her search for Malachite deep under the ocean. Pearl, who stayed in the house, took the opportunity to let out the constantly resurfacing sadness. Her weeping was interrupted when she heard the door being knocked on.

Note: We're off to a new start here. And, probably gonna fix some things or two when I've got the time. But now, I'm tired.

Oh and one more thing, I really need your opinions on this one. I sucked at The newcomer because no feedbacks were given. Like seriously, check out the only two reviews, they're stupid.


	2. Chapter 2

The Orphan.

The knock had Pearl by surprise, she quickly stopped her weeping and turned around. She got up and wiped her tears away and slowly opened a small part of it to look around for the source of it. When she found no one there, she then opened the door all the way to make sure that it wasn't a joke or her mind. It was neither both of it, before she could close the door, she took a quick glance down and saw something she almost missed when she turned. She looked back at the person standing at the floorboard and there it is. He, to be precise.

Staring at Pearl with a small, with a hint of anticipation in his smile and a soft expression to match with it. Was a child, in a dirty medium-sized clothes that was torn in some places. Along with a filthy pair of shorts. His height was that of Steven, but noticeably shorter by a few inches. The boy also looked younger than said person as well. His hair was frazzled and dirty. Pearl also noticed that he was carrying a sack with several things bulging from outside.

Pearl, confused as to why the child was here, half of her mind was thinking about how the child looks like. She tried to speak but can't seem to make sound.

"Hello miss," The boy's voice then broke the silent.

Surprised, Pearl replied only with a, "Hello.".

"I'm sorry but, if this is not too much to ask but can I stay here for the day? It's just that, I'm so tired from yesterday, I've been searching for places to safely get to temporarily. So, can I?" He asked with an expectant grin.

Pearl's mouth was gaped as the child explained his sudden appearance and was about to decline, rather politely because of what the others would think. But then, the child spoke again.

"It's... It's okay if I can't. Many didn't want me anyway, those who would only had to keep me for a short amount of time due to a mysterious event. So, I guess I should just leave." He then began to turn away sadly.

This made Pearl feel guilty, deciding against her first thought, she held out her arm and shouted, "Wait!" prompting the child the turn back to look at her. "You, you don't have to go,"

The boy's eyes lit up at her sentence, "Really!?" he said and Pearl answered with a nod and a reassurance.

"You can stay." She said with a smile.

Moving out of the boy's way, Pearl let him enter the house, which, he stared with a great amazement at the house. Looking around the house, the boy smiled widely in fascination. He then placed his sack on the ground, with a little too much force unfortunately, and a hole that was barely holding on with a few strings left ripped open and let out some of his smaller objects that were put in it.

Looking back at the object, he quickly rushed to it and retrieved the sewing kit he got from one of the people who took care of him, and immediately went to work while mumbling something about how it should last at least a little longer, continued with a series of 'no's'.

Whilst repairing the spot, Pearl went up to him and bent down next to him, slightly surprised that he knows how to sew. "May I ask you something while you're at this?".

The kid looks at her and back at the bag as he replied, "Sure, what is it?"

"Where did you learn to sew?"

"Well, I learned it from the same family that took care of me, why?"

"It's rare to see boys who are skillful in this craft. If I may ask, how old are you? What's your name?"

He then looked around the nearly-finished patch and picks up an envelope. He handed it to Pearl, she turned it around to find message and without hesitation, she proceeds to read it, "To my dear Hammond, by the time you read this, you will be at least 9 years old. I know, I've seen it. Before you read what is encased within this envelope, I just want you to know, that your father and I love you so, so much. And before you read the full message I just wanted to say that, that I'm sorry. When the time comes, read the letter inside and I hope, you can forgive us that we were never with you and that you will understand. Love, your mother.", she then placed her hand over her mouth and looked over to the boy. She handed the object back to him and crouched down near him, "Don't worry, this time you will no longer be alone." She spoke to him softly and hugged him.

The boy happily embraced her hug and enjoyed every lasting moment with it. That is until, the door burst open and came two individuals, one, another kid who is noticeably older than him and the other, a purple skinned girl who is slightly taller than the boy. Both of whom are named, Steven and Amethyst. Which, the boy doesn't know as of yet.

This interrupted their hug as Pearl quickly turned around to see both of the mentioned people with the kid standing just behind her. Amethyst eyed both of them and snickered.

"Uhh, what are you doing? Who's the kid?" She said, pointing at Hammond.

"Oh uh," Looking back at the child behind her, she then answered her in a slightly nervous tone, "Amethyst, Steven, this is Hammond. Hammond, Steven, Amethyst!" And chuckled with the same tone.

Steven waved at him, "Hi! How are you doing?"

"I'm good, thank you for asking."

"Wow! He's polite too! Is he gonna stay here with us?"

"Hah, you wish! If he's going to be staying here, he'll have to ask Garnet-"

And just then, Garnet came in from the door they were from as well, simply saying, "Yes, he's going to stay here with us." In her monotonous voice.

"What!?"

The towering woman standing beside her crossed her arms and fixed her glasses. Hammond then inspected her carefully, he was confused as to why she is wearing sunglasses even after entering the house and why she is unimaginably tall along with her clothes.

"I'll tell you why I let him, I saw him somewhere in my future vision, for some reason, his arrival was the only thing I could see. Not that I thought he was insignificant but it suddenly blocked all the other possible events I could see and that was it. When I was searching for Malachite, visions of him appeared once again and that was when I decided that it would be best if I immediately come back. There's also one thing about him that I don't understand, just as the second vision ended, he was no longer in any possible futures I can see. As if he could avoid it, and by the way, my name's Garnet. That over there is Pearl." She finished, pointing at the woman in front of Hammond.

"Huh, now that you've told me, she haven't really told me her name." He said as he looked at Pearl, who glanced at nowhere and at everyone awkwardly.

Amethyst and Steven laughed at her, causing her to blush, "What?"

"Oh nothing, miss manners!" Just by saying that made her laugh even more, followed by Hammond's hearty laugh, who realized what she meant, somehow.

Note: Oopsy daisy, did something went wrong? Tell me and I will fix it. The scenes were meant to be fleshed out a little more and the chapter's supposed to end right after Amethyst and Steven entered but, oh well.

By the way, Chapter 3 won't be finished until the episode showing Steven's bathroom is. Because, you know? Also, I'll be back with The newcomer tho!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter. 3

As Hammond finished his hearty laugh, he turned to the other inhabitants of the house to ask, "Hey, seeing that I'm allowed to stay here, may I ask?" He scratched his head.

"Sure, what is it?" Came Steven's energetic voice, "Here, let me show you." True to his words, Steven motioned Hammond to come with him and showed him the toilet, which was situated in a small passage near the white couch next to them. Stopping near the door, Steven spoke up to say something to Hammond just in case he might need it, "One more thing, we don't really have much more things inside so, feel free to use some of my stuff in there. Just don't forget to wash them okay?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, I have my own in the sack," Hammond then went off to his only means of inventory and ran back to Steven with a small case which contained all that he needs in the bathroom, "See?" He showed him the case with a smile.

"Yes, I do. So I guess we're all okay then! Just holler if you need anything okay?" He then walked off after he received a nod from Hammond.

Just as Hammond entered the bathroom, he remembered that he indeed needed something, "Hey Steven!?" He called out.

"Yeah, Hammond?" Came Steven's voice.

"I forgot to ask for some towel because I don't have any with me."

"Oh, I think I have a few more upstairs. I'll be back with it."

Hammond then heard the bathroom door knock, he had already started cleaning himself when Steven left so he then opened the door slightly while covering the rest of his body behind it.

"Here's the towel you asked for." He handed the towel to Hammond, who took it from his hands politely.

"Thanks, Steven."

"No problem buddy."

Right after that, he continued what he was doing.

Just as the Gems were talking about how and where to specifically find Malachite, Hammond emerged from the bathroom door, towel wrapped around his lower body. "Hey Steven? Why do you have a comb, I mean, it doesn't look like you use it."

Steven then turned to Hammond and replied, "Oh, yeah, I don't really use it but if you want to, feel free to do so." He offered.

"Yeah, I don't really use them anyway. But-" Hammond said while looking around and realized that his sack was nowhere to be seen, "Where's my stuff? I have some clothes there that I want to get, a little torn though."

"That's why I am going to allow you to use some of mine until we get you new ones, they're over there." He pointed at the counter, where his folder star shirt and blue jeans are placed on.

"Oh really? Thanks Steven!" The child shouted happily as he ran towards his new temporary set of clothes and proceeds to put them on behind the counter, all the while listening to their conversation.

"We can't let Malachite stay at the bottom of the ocean any longer, we need to find her and defuse her!" Pearl worriedly expresses what she thinks of the matter.

"There is not much option here, we either risk all of our lives trying to find her or we could press on other matters like finding Peridot, it is only sensible considering the fact that she has all the information we need."

"Yes, but our chances of finding her is slim." Pearl sighed.

"So is our chances with Malachite, there isn't much difference."

Pearl then sighed again after being told by Garnet about what they could only hope to do.

"Forgive me but, if I may ask," Hammond chimed in while looking at everyone, "What is going on anyway? Also, please excuse my sudden change of tone and behavior here alright? What or who, exactly is, Malachite? And this Peridot person, who are they?"

The Gems then exchanged glances, they were hesitant in telling him what their concerns are. Pearl then walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Well Hammond, truth is, we are not humans at all, at least, us. Steven on the other hand is a hybrid of a human and one of us."

Hammond eyed Pearl's hand and looked back at her, "I can see you guys aren't humans, humans don't got gems embedded on their body parts, obviously," he glanced around at the other Gems and back at Pearl, "But that doesn't explain who those two are." He tilted his head,

"I was afraid you might ask this..."

"Don't worry, I can take it."

Pearl then sighed before explaining to Hammond what and who they really are, "As you can tell from my gem here," she pointed at her forehead, "We are a race of extraterrestrial beings known as, 'Gems'. We came from a world far from here. Just like every other one of us, we possess greatly enhanced physical attributes. Along with a few other powers that is sometimes only found in certain Gems. And about Malachite, she was actually a fusion of Peridot's escort, Jasper and her informant Lapis. And along with Peridot, they were Gems sent from homeworld to finish what we started. And before you ask another thing, we rebelled against them. We won, but we suffered a great loss. We've dedicated ourselves in protecting the Earth, no matter what."

"Wow, wait, did you say you possess greatly enhanced physical statuses? I thought I was the only one!" Hammond exclaimed quite joyously.

"What? What are you talking about?" Asked Pearl.

"I don't really know why but one of the letters told me that I have something known as the, 'survivor's soul'? I don't know but the letter said that it gives me a stronger willpower and boost my stats. There's a lot of letters in that envelope actually, I've read a few of them in hopes of learning who my parents actually are. So far, I've learned of only what they do with their lives and I have to say, their cause are very noble."

His explanations got the Gems by surprise, something they did not expect from anyone at all. This got the Gems feel bad for him. That is until, "Don't worry about it though, it wasn't easy but I got over it. I moved on." He smiled at the Gems.

"Very well then, we, will not worry too much about you," Came Garnet's voice, she then turned around as if something happened. And indeed, something did happen, she quickly looked back at the Gems and shouted, "Gems! We need to go, now! Something appeared in the water near the beach!"

"Right! Steven, stay close to us okay?"

Steven then nodded, obeying Pearl's orders. Just as they were about to leave, Hammond asked them, "Wait! Can I come too? Please, I might be able to help!"

Pearl turned to Garnet on how to answer him, when Garnet stayed silent, she turned back at Hammond to answer, "Okay, but please. Stay behind us, who knows what could happen to you." To which Hammond nodded obediently to.

The Gems, including Hammond ran outside to see what caused Garnet to feel uneasy. It was revealed to be a reptilian monster, slowly crawling onto the beach. The Gems then see Lion growling at it, he then roared at the creature. Which seems to have provoked it, they were caught its' own roar by surprise. Garnet recovered from the attack and went ahead to fight this new monster, followed by Amethyst and then Pearl.

Steven and Hammond stayed behind as the Gems were engaged in battle. Hammond looked intently at them, he was then interrupted by Steven's voice, "Hey Hammond?"

After the call, Hammond then looked at Steven, "Oh, yeah, what is it?"

"I'll be honest with you, I don't think we've seen one of those before, I mean, I can't see any gem on it. And judging by the looks, its' insides seem to be out of the question,"

"Then, they won't have any chance against it?"

"I'm not entirely sure but, they're still pretty experienced in battles so, I guess it's a 50/50 chance that they'll win." He tried to assure him.

The Gems began attacking from every sides of the monster, Lion included. The creature only had to swat Pearl and Lion, who were in front of it, away. Amethyst was ironically whipped away by its' tail. Leaving Garnet to face the monster head on. She landed on the monster's head and grabbed onto it while slamming her fists repeatedly in an attempt to subdue the creature. The creature thrashed around in order to get Garnet off its' head.

The beast then slammed its' head onto the ground and successfully got Garnet off its' head. It took the opportunity to retaliate by striking down on the ground with its' claws, not knowing the other Gems have gotten up and ready to return to battle.

Amethyst started their counterattack by whipping Pearl up into the air, who dives down towards the monster with the her spear pointed towards it. Upon landing the hit, her spear only barely penetrated through the beast's scales. She then tried to pull out her weapon but the creature dropped on its' back, Amethyst managed to evade it and got to Garnet. She pulled Garnet away and got her to a safer zone, they watched as the monster got back up and turned to its' back, presumably at Pearl as the slam was powerful enough to kick up the sand and blur their vision.

Steven and Hammond stared with fear, the thought of them losing was enough to render Hammond immobile. He was afraid that if the Gems couldn't do it, then what chance does he and Steven have? But, as the smoke cleared up, Pearl was clear to be seen, she wasn't moving at all, though they will know if she is truly gone, they were afraid that she is too vulnerable.

The sight of Pearl at her most helpless snapped Hammond out of his fearful trance, "P-Pearl!" He ran off to her aid, despite only knowing all of them in such a short time, he already felt like part of the family and his wish of not wanting to lose anyone anymore triggered his suppressed abilities.

"Hammond, wait!" Steven tried to stop him as he ran past the Gems who also tried to stop him but was also too late, he was already close enough to gain the monster's attention. But he didn't stop running, he kept on charging towards the towering creature and slammed onto its' side, preventing its' attempt to finish Pearl off.

The monster was sent stumbling a good amount of distance away. Hammond then ran over to Pearl and tried to wake her up.

Pearl then opened her eyes slightly to see a worried Hammond. She was surprised and quickly got up, "Hammond! What are you doing? I thought I told-"

Hammond then shook his head, "Pearl, no! There's no time, we need to get away!" Before the Gem could reply, Hammond grabbed her hands and ran back to the others. After reaching them, he let go of Pearl's hands and breathed heavily. He looked at the Gems, who, except for Garnet, had a shocked expression. "Guys, come on! We need to-"

Amethyst then interrupted him by saying, "We need to what? You just gave us a good advantage by toppling down that monster! Now we can finish it off while he's dizzy and all! Come on Garnet!" Her glassed comrade nodded and both of them rushed towards the beast who was caught off-guard and was finished in one powerful strike by Garnet and Amethyst.

It was then revealed that the monster was not a Gem, as shown by the effect of their attack, what was left of the monster was only its' destroyed body, blood splattered all over the beach and cracked bones, revealing its' destroyed organs.

Amethyst was shocked to see this, "Ew," She looked around and saw some of the pieces of its' body everywhere, "What? Its' not a Gem?" She turned to Garnet, hoping she would have any answers, but of course she received none, as of yet.

The two went back near the house and looked back at the carcass. "Ugh, that's disgusting," Came Steven's voice.

Hammond stayed silent, it's not that he is not affected, he's only seen these kinds of things so many times before.

"What do you guys think?" Amethyst asked her allies, "This isn't quite normal, we've never had actual creatures before. Well, not until now."

"This might just be connected to him as well," Garnet looked at Hammond, "I know we're not supposed to jump to conclusions just yet but, things have been out of place ever since the visions faded. His arrival, might be a harbinger of something."

Hammond only looked at his new family for a while before uttering the following words softly, "What?"

End of chapter.

Note: I know, a wait that is not slightly worth it. But on the other side, the next chapters will be about him being introduced to the town.

Closest event this takes place in: After "Love Letters" and before "Reformed".

I will admit, this was a bit rushed... Worry not! Please, because I'll do better next time.


	4. Hiatus message

Like the title above said, I am going to put this story on a hiatus.

I am currently experiencing writer's block and pressured over the amount of time I have to rewrite the story. I am deeply regretting if this causes any inconveniences. That's all for now, I will however, return with more of the story's chapters when I finally get myself to continue my work here.


	5. Chapter 4

A walk around the town.

As Amethyst and Garnet cleared up the remains of the monster, Hammond, Steven and Pearl had already went back to the beach house. "Wait wait wait, so, what you guys were saying, it's that the monster got here. Because of me?" Hammond asked his new friends in a confused tone, Garnet told them what she thinks could be the only reason this could happen before, of course it also surprised Pearl but how could she argue? Things had always been weird for them but this one, had to come out on top of their list.

"Well yes, at least that's what Garnet told us and it's also the best we've got," Replied a similarly confused Pearl.

"But, what if it doesn't really mean that much? What if he's just here because of a... Freak accident?" The half-Gem said with a shrug.

"Steven, there's no way this could have been a freak-" She said while doing the air quote symbol, "accident, there must be a reason. The outcome could be something big."

Hammond, not really understanding his current situation, hung his head low. Pearl then crouched in front of him, "Listen Hammond, you don't need to worry. Maybe that big thing could be something good." She tried consoling him. And it worked, Hammond looked up and smiled, "Look, why don't you and Steven go to the town? Have a look around." The child then smiled wider and nodded happily.

"Yeah! It'll be great! And fun of course." The young Gem threw his arms up enthusiastically.

The two then ran down the nearby steps to head into town while Pearl goes off to help her comrades clear up the carcass.

"Bye guys, we're off to town!" Steven said quickly while running.

"Can you get some fry bits while you're at it? Thanks!" Amethyst said from a distance.

As they make their way into town, Steven looked back at Hammond while walking backwards, "Hey, how about I introduce you to the people of beach city first?" He asked cheerfully.

"Well, you are showing me the place so, why not?" He continued walking along the streets with the extremely energetic boy. After noticing Steven motioned at him with the 'come on' gesture, he followed, only letting himself being led to their destination.

It was not long until the children came to a stop at a car wash, on top of the building there is a neon sign that says 'it's a wash'. Hammond looked around before turning to Steven, "So, who's here?" he politely asked, as he usually does as of now.

"First, I'll introduce you to my dad. Hey dad! Come out for a second, I need to you introduce to someone!" He banged on the backdoor of a nearby van. This act shocked Hammond as it happened quite unexpectedly. After a few more seconds, the door opened up and from it, exited a tall but plump looking man wearing a tank top and a pair of short jeans. He also noticed a bald spot on his head which he decided not to remark on with hair going past his shoulders and nearly reaching his waist.

As soon as both Hammond and the man made eye-contact, they stayed silent, with Hammond not knowing how to introduce himself and Greg being a bit confused to who this kid is. "Dad," Steven began, and pointed his arm towards Hammond, "This is Hammond. Hammond, This is my dad." Hammond was then snapped out of the awkward silence and tried to greet him but couldn't find the right words, especially on what to exactly call him.

"Name's Greg but you can just call me Mr. Universe okay?" The man started first, "And, nice to meet you. Now, who are you exactly?" He held out his hand, which Hammond shook. Hammond only stared at him, not knowing what else to say until Steven chimed in saying, "Sorry dad, we need to go. I'm giving him a tour around Beach City!"

"Is that so? Well, just in case you guys are buying something along the way, here are some extras for you, hold on." Mr. Universe, as Hammond is currently referring him to as of now, got back into his van to get the extra money he had just referred to. Steven then smiled happily at Hammond, who knew this would be a great beginning for him to a better life.

With his father introduced, Steven led Hammond to the others. This time, he was going to introduce him to his two best friends, though, the other person within that two may not be considered quite as tolerable as the other one. After a long walk to the left side of the car wash, they soon reached another shop. Hammond looked up at the big donut on top of it, "A big donut?" He remarked on the sign and looked back down to see the name of the shop, "The Big Donut?"

Steven then proceeded to talk about this place outside while slowly walking towards the entrance. Inside, two of the shop's employees, both being somewhere around the age of young adults, waited on the counter for a customer. One was a short blonde-haired girl while the other was a tall male with an orange-brown mohawk, as if they contrasted each other. Their wait indeed paid off as the hanging doorbell rang.

The girl, who had been resting her head on the counter got up to greet their customer, "Hey! Welcome to the big-" She stopped mid sentence after seeing Steven, "Oh hey Steven, who's that?" She turned to Hammond.

"Yeah, I was going to introduce you guys to him. Go ahead Hammond, say hi to them." Cheerfully replied Steven. Hammond slowly raised his hand and softly said, "Hi. Like he said, my name's Hammond. Nice to uh, meet you."

"...Nice to meet you Hammond, I'm Sadie, and that slacker over there is Lars," She replied while teasing Lars. It was only then that the other employee got up only to deny the fact he is, "Hey! I'm not a slacker!" After that, he decided to take a look at Hammond to greet the kid himself only to notice a slight similarity to Steven. He nudged at Sadie and pointed at Hammond, "Uhh, what?"

"What, what is it?" She looked at Lars and turned to Hammond after seeing that he's pointing at a confused Hammond and then to Steven. "Don't you think they look a little similar?" Lars replied. Sadie couldn't really see it until Lars continued to point it out, "Well, it's not an exact similarity, they look almost the same. For example, the hair, it's not curly but still it's spiking outwards. Then the height. I think that's all, aside from the clothing of course."

Sadie only nodded in agreement at his response, "Anyway, what kind of donuts would you like?" She asked after that was over with. Steven placed his fingers on his chin, pondering. While that goes on, Hammond goes on to the counter, "Hey, Sadie? I know one of your signs on the menu over there says you guys only sell donuts but I can't help but notice other types of snacks here."

"Oh, yeah, ju-just ignore that one. What would you like?" She asked once again.

"I've noticed some weird crescent-shaped pastry, what are those?"

"You're talking about croissants there, you want those?" Sadie asked.

"Isn't that a bit obvious?" The laid-back Lars chimed in.

Sadie only rolled her eyes and went on to get what Hammond had asked for. Hammond waited for a little bit and looked back at Steven, who was still pondering on what he wanted to get along the way. After a while, Sadie finally came back with a bag filled with pastries.

"You know what? I think I'll just have the usual ones," Steven said with a shrug.

"It's already in there." Replied Sadie, who was already counting the amount that is needed to pay.

"Oh, well, thanks then!" He cheerfully said to her, and proceed to pay her after seeing the required amount needed for the snacks.

Both Steven and Hammond walked out of the shop with their pastries, "You know," Hammond started, "I think so far, we're off to a really good start. Where we heading next?"

"I think we can still make it to our last two stops if we hurry."

After another walk, they came to what seems to be a restaurant. Judging from the sign, it was obviously a pizzeria, "So, who are we seeing this time?" Hammond asked.

"This time, we're meeting the pizzas." Steven replied with his usual energetic tone.

"How are these people like? I'm afraid I might have trouble greeting these new people again."

"Don't worry, they're easy to talk with."

Upon entering the building, Hammond looked around. After looking back down, his eyes were set upon all 6 people that are currently inside. All whom Steven is greeting.

"Well, here he is. Go on, introduce yourself buddy." He asked him.

"Hello everyone. Nice to meet you guys, the name's Hammond."

"Yeah he's okay. Nice to meet you too," Said the one wearing sunglasses, "Call me Buck."

"Me too, nice to meet you. They call me Sour Cream." Came the hoodie-wearing teen's voice next.

"I'm Jenny, nice to meet you too li'l guy," Said a girl, who is apparently one of the members of the family who owned the restaurant, "So Hammond, how long have you been here?"

"Actually, he's only arrived here today," Steven went on to reply for Hammond, "So where's Kofi and Nanefua?, is it just you and Kiki today?"

"Not really, they're just off to something important I guess. You? Are you just here to introduce him to us or are you gonna order some pizza?"

"It's just the first one, we already got ourselves some snacks anyway," Steven held up the pastry-filled bag, "Also, we only have one last place to stop by."

"See ya later then," Jenny said her goodbye first.

"Bye guys," Said the other two in unison.

Just as they exited the restaurant, Kiki finally came up to the counter, having missed the whole conversation, "What did I miss?"

"It's not much really, I'll tell you all about it later," Replied her sister.

This next route wasn't very far, as they literally walked only several steps to the right after coming out of the pizzeria. This time, they're heading to another familiar landmark, for Steven at least. Steven and Hammond stopped right in front of it.

"Here we are!" Steven happily said while pointing his arms forward to the building.

"Beach citywalk fries? OH and didn't Amethyst ask us if we could get her something?" Said Hammond upon remembering said Gem's words.

"Of course, she asked if we could her some fry bits didn't she?"

"Yeah, what's fry bits anyway? I've heard of fries and even tasted some during one of my temporary stay with another family before, but fry bits?"

"You'll see," Steven then walked to the counter, where another kid was placed to work at, "Hey Peedee, you know what I want."

"Sure thing Steven, let me- Who's that?" The kid, whose name was apparently Peedee, asked Steven.

"Yeah, this here is Hammond. Say hi."

"Got that, yeah, nice to meet you Peedee."

"Well it's always nice to see new faces 'round town, nice to meet you too," The young worker returned the greeting while placing a bag of what can only be assumed be of fry bits, which Steven picked up.

"That's all I guess, tell Ronaldo and your father I said hi!" Steven waved at him while walking down the right side on the boardwalk.

"I will!"

While walking down the boardwalk, the kids bumped into Amethyst.

"Oh, hey Amethyst, here are your fry bits."

"Oh thanks, I was just about to get it myself after I thought you guys didn't hear me. Also, Pearl is getting a bit worried about you."

Hammond was sort of confused until he looked at the now orange sky, "Oh, sun's setting..." He said and exchanged glances at Steven before shrugging.

"Anyway, thanks again for the bits," Amethyst said with a mouth-full of fry bits.

They were about to make their way back home until a pained scream came within earshot, they then looked at the source of it and noticed a dark-skinned man kneeling on the ground while holding his arm. They also noticed three other people near him and one in front of all of them.

"Isn't that Mister Smiley?" Steven said, referring to the man. He then ran to his location with Hammond and Amethyst following behind.

Soon enough, they came the closest to him before noticing the person facing him was holding a rather large knife. Steven also noted that one of the people who are wearing suits is Mayor Dewey, "Mayor Dewey, what happened?"

"Steven, stay back. This man, is dangerous."

"All of you, better back off now," Said the attacker.

"This guy is easy," Amethyst said while stepping forward before summoning her whip.

"You make one more step and this man, will die," He warned once again, oblivious to the presence of another person behind him.

As the attacker then points his knife towards Mayor Dewey, "Even though I'm not originally from this place, I really hate you. You, are a horrible excuse for a mayor. Now, I'm gonna-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he received a sharp blow on the head, knocking him out. Shocked, the crowd looked on at the man who had apparently just saved them all. He picked the unconscious man and proceeded to walk away, until of course, "Hey, mister! Who are you? Please, help Mr. Smiley!" He heard the man sigh and reached out into the backpack he was carrying and threw a first-aid kit at them.

After the man had left, Steven and Mayor Dewey finally finished wrapping up Mr. Smiley's wound. Relieved, they helped him get up.

"So Mayor Dewey, what happened here?" Steven asked.

"Well, it was quite an event. I was going around with my van as usual, checking up on the citizens of my town. And then that madman showed up, but, had it not been for Mr. Smiley here, you would have to elect a new mayor then," He ended with a short laugh.

"Wow, you're a real nice guy. But, why did that guy called you a bad mayor?" Hammond' s voice came in.

"Eh, it's probably one of our past actions which had something to do with the town losing its' electricity," Amethyst replied to Hammond' s question.

"And if I may ask, who might you be?"

"My name is Hammond, mister Mayor."

"Ah well, nice to meet you Hammond. I think it is best for you all to head home by now."

"Yeah, I agree. It's dark now, see you tomorrow Mayor Dewey!" Steven bid farewell while Hammond waved at him.

The mayor then offered to send Mr. Smiley home as a gratitude for help saving his life. After passing by the Beach Citywalk Fries again, Steven explained to Peedee all that had happened. Not long after, when the lights are all out, the trio finally arrived back at the beach house.

Upon entering said house, they were greeted by an extremely worried Pearl, who was pacing around near the doorstep. She quickly turned to them after noticing they were finally back home. She quickly ran over to both Steven and Hammond to check on them. She was greatly relieved when no damage on them was found. Her happiness was soon converted to anger and Steven and Hammond soon found themselves to be the glared on.

"What were you two doing!? I was so worried, Amethyst, why didn't you accompany them all the way back then? Do you know how stressed I feel right now!?" She furiously shouted at all three of them.

"Geez, relax P. You're the one who sent them off in the first place," Amethyst countered with the wave of a hand.

Before Pearl could say anymore, Hammond quickly chimed in, "No no no! It is partially our fault, we got carried away with all the talking and stuff. We're sorry, but there was a lot of things that happened on the way home! Again, we're sorry."

Pearl wanted to let her anger out but seeing Hammond' s saddened expression helped soften her a bit, "Alright, it's okay. I'm sorry too, for shouting at you. I was just very worried about you guys. I hope you can forgive me, Hammond, Steven."

Both the boys nodded at her with an accepting smile. This also helped Pearl smile along with them. Amethyst's yawn snapped them out from the conversation, indicating that it was time for Steven to go to bed as well.

"Well, good night Pearl. I'm, off to sleep now," He said while walking down to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

After brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas and everything else needed to be done, Steven was prepared to sleep. He had also cleared it up to Hammond that for now, they can share the bed. With all the things done, Steven slowly drift to a deep sleep. Hammond was still wide awake however, he stared at the ceiling. Pondering.

He eventually cleared up his mind so that he may sleep soundly like Steven. Everything about his past had only just bothered him. But one thing for sure, is that he now have a family to rely on, a new life to live on for.

Chapter end.

Notes: Hiatus? What hiatus? Pfft.

-You might think this is rushed, but its' not. It was a major crack pain. I started working on this chapter about last month...

-Also, what's with the last event right? Well, it's nothing. Or is it?

-I'll try to do better in the next chapter.


End file.
